ABSTRACT
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As seen in the previous chapter, development of new drugs requires large amounts of time and
resources. Drug development is a formidable undertaking requiring nearly US$ 800 million and 12
years to bring the average drug to market commercialization [1,2]. It is estimated that only one out
of 5,000-10,000 compounds tested in preclinical assay is approved as a new medicine [3].
Obviously, it is in the interest of pharmaceutical companies and of consumers that better drugs
(more effective, fewer side effects) become available at a lower cost. At first sight, these
requirements seem to be mutually exclusive. The current hope of meeting this challenging task is
that by improving the characterization of compounds and their effects in early and not yet so costly
phases, one would increase their chance of success in late phases of development.
